Dry Spell Along Cauvery Worsens Water Shortage, Raises Interstate Tension

Farmers along the Cauvery river are facing severe water shortages due to a weak monsoon, intensifying tensions between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka's Mandya district, farmer Marilingaiah has raised a nursery of paddy seedlings on his two-acre plot in Kuntanahalli village, Maddur taluk. He is waiting for water to reach his fields at the tail end of the Visvesvaraya irrigation canal system, which draws water from the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir across the Cauvery near Mysuru. Marilingaiah said that if water does not flow into the fields within the next 7–10 days, he will have to give up hopes of sowing paddy and lose the ₹8,000 he spent on raising the nursery. He noted that adequate rainfall along with canal water is essential for the paddy to survive. The report says he is among many farmers facing such distress.